i 


BRIEF  DESCRIPTION 


OF  THE 


CATALOGUES 


OF  THE 


LIBRARY  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE, 


CAMBRIDGE: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  LIBRARY. 


1867. 


1 


t 


CATALOGUES 


OF  THE 

LIBRARY  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE. 


Books  received  before  Sept.  1st,  1833,  appear  in  the 
printed  Catalogue  which  lies  at  the  desk  hi  the  Reading- 
room.  Later  accessions  are  entered  on  cards,  which  are 
kept  in  drawers  in  a private  alcove,  and  may  be  consult- 
ed through  the  officers  of  the  Library.  A new  catalogue 
or  “Index,”  on  smaller  cards,  contained  in  the  cases  of 
drawers  which  occupy  the  middle  of  the  hall,  is  freely 
accessible  to  all.  It  is  intended  ultimately  to  embrace 
the  titles  of  all  the  books,  maps,  and  pamphlets  which 
the  Library  may  possess.  At  present  (April,  1867), 
about  half  of  the  books  in  the  Library  have  been  enter- 
ed upon  it, — including  every  bound  volume  received  since 
Nov.  1,  1861,  with  a selection  of  other  volumes  and  of 
pamphlets.  It  is  in  two  parts : — 

I.  Index  of  Authors. 

Books  are  here  entered  under  the  names  of  their  auth- 
ors, if  known;  — under  the  initials  of  the  authors’  names, 
when  those  alone  are  given; — under  the  names  of  editors 
of  collections ; — under  the  names  of  countries , cities , so- 
cieties, or  other  bodies  which  are  responsible  for  their 
publication.  If  no  such  name  appears,  they  are  entered/ 
under  the  first  word  of  the  title  not  an  article  or  a prepg. 
sition,  usually  with  references  from  some  important  wo(.j 
or  words  in  the  title;  — but  an  anonymous  biograplftcay 
work  is  put  under  the  name  of  the  subject  of  the/y^g. 


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raphy,  and  arranged  after  works  bjj  him.  Pseudonymous 
works  are  entered  under  the  assumed  name,  unless  the 
real  name  of  the  author  is  known. 

Periodicals  are  entered  likewise  under  the  first 
word  of  the  title,  unless  the  mime  of  the  society  of  which 
they  are  the  organ  forms  a part  of  the  title , in  which  case 
they  are  put  under  that  name. 

Ancient  G reek  and  L a t i n A u t h o r s and  F a t h e r s 
of  the  Church  are  not  entered  in  this  Index:  ip. 
Index  II.  they  form  the  classes  Greek  Authors,  Latin 
Authors,  and  Fathers.  Editions  of  the  Bible  and  of 
its  separate  books  also  appear  only  in  Index  II.,  in  which 
Bible  forms  a class. 

The  shelf-number  is  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  card. 
It  is  not  put  upon  references,  nor  upon  cards  written  in 
the  following  style : — 

Everett,  Edward. 

Biographical  Memoir  of  the  Public  Life  of 
Daniel  Webster.  (Webster,  Daniel. 
Works,  1851,  8vo,  pp.  xiii.— clx.) 


In  such  cases  the  volume  referred  to  in  parentheses 
as  containing  the  work  whose  title  precedes,  must  be 
sought  in  its  proper  place  in  the  Index  of  Authors;  — 
here,  under  Webster. 

Cards  containing  a title  without  place,  date,  and  form 
of  publication,  and  with  a note : “ Reviewed  in  the 
N.  Amer.  Rev.  ” (or  in  any  other  periodical  or  book),  are 
intended  merely  to  refer  to  the  review,  and  do  not  imply 
that  the  Library  possesses  the  book  reviewed. 

The  arrangement  is  alphabetical.  The  name  of  a place 
follows  the  name  of  a person  when  they  are  alike;  e. 

“ Worcester,  Mass.,”  comes  after  “ Worcester,  Noa 


k 


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as  a heading.  If  the  same  word  should  also  occur  as  the 
first  word  of  an  anonymous  title,  it  precedes  the  name 
of  the  person ; e.  g.  “ The  Worcester  Talisman,  ” with  no 
heading,  precedes  the  “Worcesters”  named  above. 

II.  Index  of  Subjects. 

Here  the  arrangement  of  the  classes  is  alphabetical ; 
but  under  many  of  them  there  are  three  kinds  of  sub- 
divisions, technically  termed  “groups,”  “sections,"  and 
“branches.”  These  are  distinguished  by  their  place  on 
the  cards,  and  succeed  each  other  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  named  above,  forming  three  distinct  alphabet- 
ical series  under  the  primary  class.  The  two  first  lines 
of  the  card  are  reserved  for  the  designation  of  the  class 
and  its  various  subdivisions,  the  name  of  the  author  be- 
ginning on  the  third  line  from  the  top. 

Specimen  of  Card. 


Geog. 

- 

Eur. 

Paris. 

(1851.) 

10  . 118 

Head, 

Sir  F.  B.,  Bart.  A Faggot  of  French  Sticks. 

2 pt.  N.Y.  1852.  12mo, 

The  preceding  example  illustrates  the  place  of  the  class 
(here  Geography),  branch  (Europe),  and  section  (Paris) 
on  the  card.  The  place  of  the  group  is  on  the  middle 
of  the  second  line  of  the  card.  We  designate  by  this 
term  certain  classes  of  comprehensive  works,  as  Diction- 
aries, Periodicals,  Tables,  which  it  is  convenient  to  bring 
together,  separating  them  from  the  mass  of  general  works 
relating  to  the  subject, 


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Class. 

Groups. 

Sections. 


Branches 

with 

Sections. 


The  following  example  of  the  arrangement  under  a 
particular  class  will  further  illustrate  the  system : — 

Music.  [General  Works.] 

( Dictionaries . ) 

( Periodicals. ) 

^Esthetics  of  Music. 

Church  Music.  Works  on. 

Influence  of  Music. 

Military  Music,  Works  on. 

Opera,  Works  on  the. 

Sacred  Music,  Works  on. 

Music  — Bibliography . ( Includes  Thematic  Catalogues. ) 
§§  Chopin,  Mendelssohn,  Pianoforte,  Songs,  etc. 

„ — Biography . (Includes  Critical  Notices.) 

§§  Beethoven,  Gluck,  Mozart,  Weber,  etc. 

„ — History. 

§§  Boston,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Opera,  etc. 

„ — Instruction. 

§§  Flute,  Organ,  Pianoforte,  Violin,  Voice,  etc. 

„ — Instrumental. 

§§  Marches,  Organ,  Pianoforte,  Strings,  Violin,  etc. 
„ — Instruments  of. 

§§  Organ,  Pianoforte,  Stringed  Instruments,  etc. 

„ — National.  (Airs,  Dances,  etc.  of  the  People.) 

§§  Danish,  Norwegian,  Scottish,  Welsh,  etc. 

„ — Theory. 

§§  Harmony,  Instrumentation,  Notation,  etc. 

„ — Vocal. 

§§  Masses,  Operas  and  their  Librettos,  Oratorios,  etc. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/briefdescription00abbo_0 


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The  preceding  example  illustrates  the  fact,  that  in  the 
present  “Index”  many  subjects,  as  (in  this  case)  Flute, 
Organ,  Pianoforte,  Violin,  instead  of  appearing  in  their 
alphabetical  place  in  the  primary  arrangement,  are 
brought  together  under  a general  head ; here,  one  or  more 
of  the  branches  of  Music.  Where  it  is  deemed  neces- 
sary, cross-references  are  made  from  the  names  of  these 
specialities  to  the  class  under  which  they  are  placed ; but 
such  references  are  dispensed  with  when  a slight  exam- 
ination of  the  catalogue  supersedes  their  necessity.  For 
example,  what  relates  to  the  history  or  geography  of  par- 
ticular countries,  cities,  &c.  being  brought  together  under 
the  great  classes  Geography  and  History,  and  this  being 
a prominent  feature  of  the  catalogue,  the  names  of  places 
will  not  be  fomid  in  the  primary  alphabetical  series  of 
subjects.  A similar  remark  may  be  made  in  respect  to 
persons , concerning  whom  information  must  be  sought 
under  Biography,  where  their  names  are  arranged 
alphabetically. 

The  classes  just  mentioned,  however,  do  not  exhaust 
what  relates  to  persons  and  places.  Concerning  the 
former,  further  information  may  sometimes  be  found 
under  Anecdotes,  Autographs,  Biblical  Biography,  Bib- 
liography (including  Literary  History  and  Criticism ), 
Epitaphs,  Portraits,  Sermons  (under  the  branches  Bio- 
graphical, Consecration,  Funeral,  Installation,  Ordina- 
tion), Shipwrecks,  Trials,  and  Wills.  Many  classes,  as 
Chemistry,  Medicine,  Music,  Painting,  Philosophy,  Sci- 
ence, Sculpture,  have  a biographical  branch,  where  will 
be  found,  besides  the  lives  of  persons  eminent  in  those 
arts  or  sciences,  criticisms  on  their  works , which  do  not 
appear  under  the  class  Biography. 

In  like  manner  the  classes  Geography  and  History 


are  far  from  containing  fill  that  relates  to  the  subjects 
which  they  embrace.  Biblical  Geography,  Biblical  His- 
tory. Ecclesiastical  Geography,  and  Ecclesiastical  Histo- 
ry must  sometimes  be  consulted,  Moreover,  the  branches 
of  the  following  classes  are  wholly  or  in  part  geograph- 
ical : — Antiquities,  Banks,  Benevolent  Societies,  Bibliog- 
raphy, Biography  I,  (that  is,  Collective),  Canals,  Ceme- 
teries, Characters,  Chronology,  Clubs,  Colonization, 
Commerce,  Costume,  Directories,  Docks,  Ecclesiastical 
Antiquities,  Eccl.  Councils,  Eccl.  History,  Emigration, 
Ethnography,  Ethnology,  Fairs,  Finance,  Flags,  Forests, 
Freedmen,  Hospitals,  Hydrography,  Immigration,  Labors 
ing  Classes,  Language,  Law,  Learned  Societies,  Legisla- 
tion, Libraries,  Literary  Societies,  Military  Antiquities, 
Military  Art  ( branch  Organization  and  Administration  ), 
Military  Biography,  Military  History,  Mines,  Missions, 
Museums,  Naval  Antiquities,  Naval  Biography,  Naval 
History,  Naval  Warfare  ( branch  Organization,  etc.), 
Newspapers,  Numismatics,  Palaeography,  Patents,  Polit- 
ical Economy,  Politics,  Portraits  I.,  Prisons,  Railroads, 
Registers,  Religions  (Various),  Roads,  Serfdom,  Slavery, 
Statistics,  Treaties,  Trust  Companies,  Views.  — And 
works  treating  of  the  following  subjects  with  special  re- 
lation to  a particular  country  are  given  in  a branch 
“Geographical”  under  those  classes: — Agriculture, 
Botany,  Games,  Geology,  Horticulture,  Medicine,  Miner- 
alogy, Natural  History,  Palaeontology,  Sports,  Supersti- 
tions, Zoology. 

Travels  in  a country  appear  under  the  Geography  of 
that  country;  Voyages  will  be  found  either  under  the 
Geography  of  the  countries  touched  at,  or  ( for  the  more 
general  works  ) under  “ Geography  — Voyages.  ” 

The  following  classes  are  divided  according  to  the 


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language  in  which  the  works  were  originally  written : — 
Ana,  Ballads,  Charades,  Dialogues,  Drama,  Fables,  Fic- 
tion, Humor,  Hymns,  Inscriptions,  Legends,  Letters, 
Miscellaneous  Authors,  Mottoes,  Orations,  Parodies, 
Quotations,  Rebuses,  Rhetoric,  Riddles,  Satire,  Toasts. 
Works  in  the  less  known  literatures  which  belong  to 
none  of  these  classes  appear  under  such  headings  as 
Chinese  Literature,  Irish  Literature. 

In  Drama  and  Fiction  references  are  made  from  the 
titles  of  works  to  their  authors’  names  (under  the  same 
class ),  where  will  be  found  a fuller  title  and  the  shelf- 
number. 

For  want  of  room,  the  labels  on  the  outside  of  the 
drawers  and  the  blocks  within,  represent  only  a selection 
of  classes,  branches,  etc. ; others,  and  especially  many 
other  sections , will  be  found  among  the  cards,  in  the 
proper  alphabetical  order. 


